Making A Difference In Children's Lives

(NAPSI)—Millions of young lives around the world can benefit from a
surprising resource. A major international corporation is using its global
expertise in hygiene and health, innovative technology and consumer
communication capabilities to help Save the Children deliver lifesaving
treatments.

The Problem

Many people are not aware of it, but nearly one in 10 child
deaths-approximately 800,000 each year-are due to diarrhea. Often, these
deaths are caused by poor home environments, inadequate personal hygiene and
lack of access to essential services such as health care, sanitation, clean
water and basic nutrition.

Innovative inventions and interventions can save hundreds of thousands of young lives.

"At an unacceptable rate, children in the developing world are dying
from completely preventable diseases, like diarrhea," says Justin
Forsyth, Chief Executive of Save the Children. "We have already made
dramatic progress in reducing the number of children dying, but there is
still much more that needs to be done."

A Solution

The company, Reckitt Benckiser (RB), has teamed up with Save the Children
to target the devastating global death rate in children under 5 from diarrhea
by 2020. RB is a global consumer goods leader whose portfolio includes iconic
brands such as Clearasil, Durex, Mucinex, Lysol, Veet, Finish,
Air Wick and Woolite. Together, Save the Children
and RB want to help stop diarrhea from being one of the biggest causes of
death in children. While the goal is ambitious, they believe it's
achievable.

"Businesses like RB have a responsibility beyond results. Our larger
role is to do more for the world. We want to make a difference by providing
innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes," says Rakesh Kapoor, CEO of RB. "Our
growing partnership with Save the Children will go some way to creating
lasting improvements in the health and hygiene of vulnerable children and
families globally."

To start, RB has provided initial funding of more than $35 million and is
engaging its more than 36,000 global employees in the fight. In addition, RB
is developing innovative products such as a low-cost "de-germer" and conducting a mass-reach hand hygiene
campaign to create safer home environments for babies and children.

The "Healthier kids, Happier homes" global partnership will
help bring RB and Save the Children a step closer to achieving their mutual
vision, one in which no child under the age of 5 dies from preventable
causes.

This is just one example of how business and nonprofit organizations can
make a difference in the world.